As Hanukkah draws to a close with tonight's eighth candle, it seems like an apropos time to show you some of the fun we've had with the Purple Viking Potatoes Bob grew in the garden this year. Potato pancakes (latkes) are of course the seminal Hanukkah treat.
Bob's Potatoes (apologies to Eric Idle and Saturday Night Live)
Baked
Sinfully creamy even before the butter! We remain amazed at the white color of the flesh, and the in-your-face fresh taste - we felt as though we'd never tasted potatoes before. Do get yourself some freshly dug specimens if you can find them.
French Fried
Jeweled explosions of potato goodness.
Mashed (with Garden parsley and local butter)
Baked into Potato Bread
For post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches.
Sauteed in Smoked Duck Fat
If you have never sauteed a potato in freshly rendered (or even commercial) duck fat - you need to try some! Onions, salt and fresh cracked tellicherry peppercorn were all it needed to sing.
And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: Latkes!
Served as dinner, with Organic Valley Sour Cream and Baked Garden Carrots with Ohio City Pasta Pumpkin Butter.
Fried in Duck Fat
Latkes fried in duck fat deserve a second look, don't they?
The duck that provided the fat (thank you Makinajian Farms, LI, NY).
And so, dinner was served, with a chunk of roasted squash and more latkes. A happy and potatoey Hanukkah to all and to all a good night.
As a 100% Irish person, I nearly died and went to heaven when I saw all those potatoes in so many incarnations! You must have really enjoyed your meal!
ReplyDeleteNo applesauce with your latkes? Heresy! LOL!
@Kay - we're just not big apple sauce fans. Every year, we'd buy a small jar, and after a couple of tablespoons, the rest would wind up in the compost.
ReplyDeleteI really love the sour cream, but I only use it if it isn't a meat meal (I know it's silly, because I mix milk and dairy all of the time - but some things, as a wise rabbi I know once said, are just in your DNA. Like no sour cream with duck fat fried latkes).
Of all the incarnations of the potato, my favorite is as an ingredient in bread. It adds such a lovely softness and tenderness to the crumb.
ReplyDeleteThe latkes looked amazing! I can only imagine the flavor of them fried in duck fat.
@Tino - I keep threatening to have a Hanukkah party some year -the duck fat latkes may have pushed me into ensuring that it happens next December.
ReplyDeleteI just want to know where on earth you get freshly rendered duck fat!
ReplyDelete@About Us - we render our own duck fat every time we cook a duck - we probably do 4-8 ducks a year. We get some of them from a local farmer and some of them from an organic poultry farm near my parents' place in Long Island.
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